BIG Lab News & Gallery 2026

 15th April 2026.  Congratulations to Marta Albin on being awarded Best Presentation at today’s DCU Biological Research Society (BRS) Research Day for her outstanding talk, “From Lab Bench to Riverbank: Antibody-based Water Sensing.” This well-deserved recognition highlights the innovation and impact of Marta’s work in advancing real-world environmental monitoring solutions. The BioInnovation Group is immensely proud of her achievement and the important contributions she is making through the Aquabiosens Project. Congratulations, Marta, on this fantastic accomplishment! 

 27th March 2026. Congratulations to BIG Lab member Victoria Sherwood on graduating with a First Class Honours (H1) degree from the MSc in Biotherapeutics at Dublin City University. The lab was delighted to be there to share in the celebrations of this fantastic achievement, and we are incredibly proud of Victoria’s hard work and dedication. We are also thrilled that she has chosen to continue her research journey with us in the BIG Lab, where she will further her work in IBD diagnostics. We look forward to supporting her as she builds on this success and contributes to advancing research in this important area. 

 25th March 2026.    We are delighted to announce the launch of the new website, caspdx.com, marking an exciting step forward in how CaspDx team shares our work and connects with our community. The site showcases our commitment to advancing precision diagnostics, highlighting our innovative approach to biomarker discovery, translational research, and the development of clinically impactful solutions. Visitors can explore our core focus areas, learn more about our collaborative projects, and stay up to date with the latest developments and insights from our team. Designed with clarity and accessibility in mind, the new platform reflects both our scientific vision and our dedication to improving patient outcomes through cutting-edge research and technology.  

 4th March 2026.   Huge congratulations to Dr Sara Sadr on winning the DCU Tell It Straight competition in the First Year Student category! This is a fantastic achievement and a testament to her clarity, confidence, and excellence in communication. The BioInnovation Group is incredibly proud of her accomplishment and the hard work it represents. We wish her the very best of luck as she goes on to represent DCU on the national stage—what an exciting next step! 

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 Hosted annually by the Graduate Studies Office, Tell It Straight competition enables postgraduate research students to communicate their research in a dynamic and innovative way. The competition challenges participants to communicate their research suitable to a non-specialist audience.  

https://www.dcu.ie/graduatestudies/news/2026/mar/dcu-research-students-tell-it-straight-annual-communication-final

 18th February 2026.  We were delighted to kick off our Enterprise Ireland funded CASPDx project today at TCD. The project is aiming to transform Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Screening with an Innovative Blood-Based Diagnostic Test – CASPDx CRC. The project is led by Emma Creagh (TCD) in collaboration with Glen Doherty (UCD/St Vincents hospital), Paul Leonard (DCU) and Kieran Clarke (G2M Life Sciences) who brings extensive diagnostic commercialisation expertise. The project is also supported by Eithne McShane (Enterprise Ireland), Barbara Harvey-Carroll (DCU Innovate), Emma O'Neill (Trinity Innovation) and Ena Walsh (NovaUCD). The DCU project tasks build on previous work by Dr Sara Sadr, and further development will be spearheaded by Dr Tommaso Rossi. 

 16th January 2026.  We were delighted to welcome our new postdoc, Tommaso Rossi, to the Leonard Lab with a group lunch at Massimo’s restaurant. It was great to celebrate together, with Tommaso’s and Paul's wives also joining us for the occasion. We’re really looking forward to working with Tommaso this year and are excited to have him as part of the team. 

1st December 2025.  

Paul and Caroline were recently featured on RTÉ’s 10 Things To Know About programme in an episode aired on 1st December, focusing on the growing threat of invasive species in Ireland.

The segment was filmed on the shores of Lough Neagh, where Paul and Caroline demonstrated their modified ELISA test for detecting microcystin-LR directly at the lakeside. During the feature, they discussed the proliferation of zebra mussels in the lough and the significant role these invasive organisms play in altering the ecosystem and contributing to harmful algal blooms.

The episode highlighted the environmental and public health risks associated with invasive species and showcased the importance of innovative monitoring techniques in tackling these challenges.

In the accompanying image, Paul and Caroline are pictured with RTÉ presenter Amy Hassett at Lough Neagh during filming.  

20th November 2025. The BioInnovation Group is delighted to welcome Victoria Sherwood to the research group.  Victoria will start her research studies at BIG in December where she will focus on developing an AI-enabled workflow for biological discovery. Victoria will be supervised by Prof Christine Loscher, Dr Paul Leonard, Prof Richard O'Kennedy and Dr Denise Harold in the School of Biotechnology at DCU. Welcome back to the group Victoria! 

17th November 2025. The BioInnovation Group is delighted to welcome Kayla Bruno to the research group.  Kayla is a PhD student within the DCU RAPID institute developing microfluidic and molecular techniques for epigenetic analysis. Kayla is co-supervised by Prof James Landers, Dr. David Kinahan and Dr. Paul Leonard. According to Dr Leonard, "the collaboration with RAPID represents an exciting opportunity to develop new innovations for POC diagnostics".

14th November 2025. Postdoctoral Researcher in Molecular Biology / Biochemistry / Immunology required.

The Postdoctoral Researcher will join a multidisciplinary research team focused on translating molecular and immunological discoveries into diagnostic technologies. Please use the contact us option on this website to find out more. 

20th August 2025. Congratulations to Sara who was awarded a prestigious Enterprise Partnership Scheme PhD scholarship.  The Enterprise Partnership Scheme is a national initiative linking excellent researchers in all disciplines to enterprise. Sara will commence her PhD in September 2025. 

15th August 2025. Congratulations to Leanne, Victoria and the rest of the MSc in Diagnostics and Precision Medicine (MDPM) and MSc in Biotherapeutics (MPBT) students who completed their Masters degrees. A coffee morning was hosted by Dr Paul Leonard (MDPM Programme Chair) and Dr Janosch Heller (MPBT Programme Chair). 

14th August 2025. Caroline was joined in Lough Neagh by the '10 Things to Know About' (https://www.facebook.com/10thingstoknowabout/)  film crew to demonstrate how her research is being used to monitor toxins from harmful algae blooms at the lake.

26th May 2025. Marta, Caroline and Patrick presented their research at the AquaBioSens consortium meeting held in FORTH, Crete. The team were joined by leading experts from around Europe sharing insighs and new innovations in on site biological sensing for aquatic pollutants and biohazards

25th May 2025. Paul, Caroline, Marta and Patrick arrive in Crete for the AquaBioSens (www.aquabiosens.eu) consortium meeting. An exciting 3 days of research collaboration and communication ahead!

 21st April 2025. The BioInnovation Group welcomes Leanne Burke (Masters in Diagnostics and Precision Medicine project student) and Victoria Sherwood (Masters in Biotherapeutics project student) to the lab to work on two separate projects related to CRC diagnostic development. One project is in collaboration with a European Biotech and the other in collaboration with TCD.

12th Dec 2024. We are delighted to celebrate the award for Associate Prof. Paul Leonard (Overall Winner Richard O’Kennedy Award).

The Richard O'Kennedy Awards were established to recognise the contributions of staff members across the Faculty of Science and Health, these awards honour the work of Prof. Richard O’Kennedy, the role he played in the life of DCU, and the values which he epitomises. Prof. O'Kennedy is pictured with Paul after receiving his presitigous award.

27th Sept 2024. Marta, Caroline and Patrick brave the weather to demonstrate a new modified immunoassay that can be performed at the water side in the car boot for the detection of HAB toxins in less than 40 mins using recombinant antibodies produced in the lab.

11th Sept 2024. InSingulo's  mission is to provide the most sensitive and productive label-free bio-sensing technology for drug development, diagnostics, and quality control (insingulo.com). Paul provides scientific and business development support to InSingulo AB. 

5th Sept 2024. DCU hosted members from the Horizon Europe funded AquaBioSens project at the NRF building on our Glasnevin Campus. The DCU team led by Prof Fiona Regan and Dr Paul Leonard welcomed the consortium and hosted two days of innovative research talks and collaborations. 

10th June 2024. Congratulations of Sarah Keartland who successfully completed her thesis entitled 'Personalised patient stratification and therapeutic development using mass scale single cell analysis' submitted for the degree of MSc by Research. Sarah's project was supervised by Dr Paul Leonard, Prof Christine Loscher and Mike Freeley.

1st Feb 2024.  

Congratulations to Roozbeh who was awarded a DCU Bioterapeutics programme funded PhD  scholarship working on a project entitled '  

Biotherapeutics for Inflammatory Skin Diseases'. This project is co-led and supervised by Dr Achilleas Floudas (Translational Immunology Group),  Dr Mike Freeley in the School of Biotechnology at DCU and Dr Paul Leonard in the School of Biotechnology.

1st Jan 2024. The aquabiosens.eu project offically starts.  AquaBioSens develops handheld devices to measure aquatic hazards and pollution, supporting the EU Mission to “Restore our ocean and waters by 2030”. The devices use novel analytics, such as immunoassays, environmental RNA quantification, and whole cell biosensors, coupled with advanced sensors, such as acoustic biosensors, fluorimetry, and organ-on-chip devices. The devices are low-cost, accessible, and connected to the web. They will be tested and validated in coastal and freshwater sites in the UK, Ireland, and Greece, and disseminated to the international community. AquaBioSens aims to commercialize the new technologies. 

5th Dec 2023.  

Congratulations to Ciara who successfully defended her GOI Employment based PhD thesis entitled 'Development of a rapid pandemic response platform to identify antibodies against SARS-CoV-2'. Ciara completed her research at Remedy Biologics Ltd and at DCU under the supervision of Dr Paul Leonard and Prof. Paul Cahill. 

5th Sept 2023. Paul becomes the external examiner for Technical University Dublin's BSc in Biochemical and Molecular Diagnostics (TU866).   Serving as an external examiner for TUD’s Biochemical and Molecular Diagnostics (TU866) builds on a strong research and academic background by reinforcing expertise in advanced diagnostics while upholding the highest standards of research integrity and academic rigour. 

1st Sept 2023. Dr Leonard joins the School of Biotechnology as an Associate Professor in Biotherapeutics and establishes the BioInnovation Group in the School. Paul left DCU in 2014 to commercialise the Direct Clone Analysis and Selection Technology (DiCAST) IP that was invented in his lab. He returns to DCU having spent 9 years in industry in the US, Europe and as co-founder of RemedyBio.